Lucius

Trump's disclosure to the Russians endangered Israeli spy working inside ISIS who may now be feeling a greater than normal amount of job related stress
 
Comey invited to testify publicly at Senate hearing and when was the last time you seriously considered watching one of these hearings live

We have all made a horrible mistake. I was rereading the chapter about African nations at the time in the Pulp Hero 5th book when I realized we could fill this thread with people mentioned in the book
 
Just three I got from a quick perusal
 
Badia Masabni - Taking a trip to Egypt but don't want to do the old loot a tomb or cursed artifact bit? Then meet up with actress, belly dancer, and queen of Cario's nightlife  at her famous or infamous Casino Opera club.
 
Baron Blixen- If your headed for Kenya and want to try your hand at safari talk to Baron Bor von Blixen-fineke Swiss writer and African big game hunter he organized safaris for many people including Edward Prince of Wales. If you've seen the movie Out Of Africa that was based on his wife's memoires
 
Beryl Markham- You might bump into her anywhere but mainly in Kenya a writer and horse trainer whos main claim to fame was as an aviatrix. British born she was not only one of the first Kenyan Bush Pilots, but the first woman to solo the Atlantic east to west.

Perhaps more Victorian than Pulp Age, as Michael Surbrook put it, Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (March 19, 1821 - October 20, 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, linguist, poet, hypnotist, fencer, and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke twenty-nine European, Asian, and African languages.  One account lists him as being one of the ten best swordsmen of all times.  Here is his character sheet and more http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationsassorted/richard_francis_burton.html

Joseph Greenstein, The Mighty Atom
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Greenstein
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=651068116795
 
'Nuff said.

The truly amazing thing is how many amazing people there are and have been. We could be here all year.
 
One of my personal favorite heroes is Eugene Bullard.
 
An African-American born in Georgia, he ran away from home as a teenager, supported himself as a jockey among other things, travelled for a time with gypsies, eventually stowed away to Scotland, in another year or two made it to France, became a boxer, enlisted in the French Foreign Legion during the First World War when Germany invaded France, was wounded in combat, while recovering seized an opportunity to train as a pilot (note on the famous Tuskegee Airmen who came later, in the next world war: the Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-Americans to fly for the U.S. - Bullard fought and flew for France, making him the first African-American combat aviator, and before him had been an African-NOT-American in the Ottoman Air Force.) He flew in combat and was shot down at least once, but when the U.S.A. entered the war, he was the only one of the American volunteer fliers who were NOT incorporated into the American Army Air Corps. Between the wars he was a jazz drummer, owned and managed both a night club and an athletic club (his wounds had ended his career as a boxer) and married into a wealthy French family, fathering two daughters. He had learned German (as well as obviously French, English being his native tongue) and his nightclub proved popular with Germans, making him valuable to French intelligence as the next war loomed on the horizon. The reason I personally consider him a hero I admire is that when everyone in Paris was fleeing before the German invasion of 1940, Bullard gave his daughters to a friend he trusted to get them out of the country while he packed up some food and money and headed TOWARD the fighting, to volunteer to fight the Germans again. He was no longer a young man, he still bore the wounds of the last war that had ended his athletic career, no one in France could have pointed to him and said "You, Bullard, you have not done enough for France!" but he went out and put his life on the line again. After being wounded yet again, to the point he really couldn't keep fighting (his back would give him trouble the rest of his life) he finally fell back, made his way to Spain and took passage back to America, the land he had left more than twenty years earlier. He spent his last two decades in America in relative poverty and obscurity in between trips back to France for little things like accepting their highest military honors and accolades or being invited to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of their Unknown Soldier, but even on his deathbed one of his friends remarked that he looked less like an old man dying of cancer, and more like a prizefighter just resting between bouts.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
I have an excellent biography of the man somewhere around here, if the palindromedary hasn't eaten it....

I didn't go far to find this
 
http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/66970-the-bloody-baron-of-mongolias-bio-is-out/
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary accuses me of being lazy.

CHAPTER II!  THE CALCULUS TERRORS YOU SHOULD ACTUALLY FEAR

Okay, felt more mojo with this part.... hopefully folks like it. Oh, and Mystics suck
 
 
The world was a spiral, constantly seeking to peel away from me and flutter off into nothing, yet there was always more world, always more light to feed the darkness, so much the darkness could never drink it all in.  Infinity versus oblivion, and it was oddly beautiful. I felt like wherever I stepped, I was in the heartbeat of what was, and there was a music to it. Stars streaked past more like comets, and filled and vanished in flashes then were gone. More stars replaced them. A wind blew past me no matter which way I turned carrying smells that reminded me of home. Here that wind was soft, but at the edges of what was it became a howling gale and then just stopped.
 
"Where am I?" I asked aloud.
 
"You are in the Balance," a woman spoke up, beautiful and young with a wicked sort of sensuality to the sway of her hips. I didn't really recognize her at first, but I did recognize the costume.
 
"Doctor Salem?" I yanked my eyes with effort once more to behave themselves.
 
"Do forgive a little vanity," Doctor Salem said with a smile, "Some say we always think of ourselves as twenty-four years old no matter how withered we get. Here in the Balance, I am allowed to indulge certain conceits."
 
"It's amazing," I admitted, watching thin rivers shoot by and over falls miles away that would go nowhere, "Creation versus Destruction?"
 
"I liked Infinity vs Oblivion thought you had myself," She told me, "But either works. The Balance is that, and more. Beyond creation is entropy, and beyond entropy… the barrier."
 
"Creation is a lot smaller than I thought it would be," I mused then nearly fell over as it started to expand all around me, what had been a ten mile island looming and swelling, "Whoa…"
 
"Your perceptions tried to make it manageable for you," She explained, "But if you want to get really philosophical, you will find more and more truth revealed until you really are contemplating the infinite… how many centuries do you have?" She inquired.
 
"I'm good," I touched my brow, and tried to reel it in. I was rewarded with things returning to a more easily comprehended view "Geez, reminds me of an anecdote by George Washington Carver," I muttered.
 
"The gentleman who worked with peanuts?" She tilted her head, "Why does he come to mind?"
 
"Well, I did a book report on him as a kid," I said, "And 'worked with peanuts' is putting it mildly. What he did with agricultural probably saved more lives from famine and boosted  economy in ways that are positively miraculous. But he was modest about it. Anyway, one story I heard was that folks asked him how he got into the study of them. He claimed he spoke to God, and said to him 'Lord, teach me the secrets of the Universe', and God looked down and said 'George, that's a bit much for one man to be taking all in', and so Dr. Carver thought about it, and said "Lord, teach me the secrets of the peanut'…and God smiled and said "Well, George. I believe that's just about your size" ", I grinned at her, "Always liked that story. I think I get it better now."
 
The youthful looking mystic laughed, "Just so. And an anecdote with wisdom indeed, " she gestured to the once more manageable view, "The Balance is a representation of what is, but only one. That is not to say this place is merely a display. In magic, symbols can change that which they symbolize, if you have the power. The reason I brought you here to talk is it maybe useful to us in time to speed the next stage of things."
 
"The tracking of the spears," I said recalling, "Because all of the are linked."
 
"Very good," Doctor Salem smiled, "Yes, and it's from here that I plan to view the results, a view I intend to share with you."
 
"What's the catch?" I raised a brow.
 
"There is indeed a catch," She agreed, "You remember what happened when you broke just one of these?"
 
"Yeah, I ended up in a fetal position thinking I was worthless, and when I woke up folks called it a win," I shuddered a bit.
 
"Yes," She sighed, "I'm going to need you to break another one. Maybe more than one."
 
I turned at her, "Respectfully, are you crazy? First, I thought you insisted we get intact ones because you couldn't use a broken one to track them. Second… suicidal deathwish for Fish Guy is not how I want to die."
 
"The Eldest came out strong," Doctor Salem said calmly, "The first assault is meant to discourage, remember? If you survive it, you'll not likely ever want to try again. However, It's a rule of diminishing returns. Each time you try, there will be an assault. But each assault will be weaker."
 
"Yeah, but…" I swallowed, "Are the effects cumulative? I mean… okay, big poison dose the first time, a bit less the second, less still the third, but isn't the poison still building up inside me?"
 
"Yes," Doctor Salem said, "Which is why I'll be drawing it out the whole time."
 
"Wait, won't that put you in danger?" I frowned.
 
"Young man," She said, forcing tolerance into her tone, "You do realize I've been a superhero since before even your parents were born?"
 
"Sorry," I said feeling sheepish. Okay, maybe, just maybe, Ariana is right and I have some chauvinistic tendencies, "Okay, we'll both be in danger."
 
"I'll ward you from the worst of it and draw the soul venom out, you will snap seven, while I use the intact eighth spear to find where all the soldiers of the Eldest, at least their spears are.  Other super teams, all over the world, are standing by, in addition to the New Samaritans to find the spears while they are temporarily weakened and perhaps even find the forge. They'll then heroically try to take out the source. It will be a coordinated move between heroes the likes that hasn't been seen since the dimensional offensive of 89."
 
"Wow," My eyes lit up at the thought of it. Depending on the number and size of the other super teams, this could be dozens of superheroes plunging into the depths to stop a war before it could come to us, and to keep an ancient evil from threatening our world for centuries yet more to come, "That's… that's going to be big."
 
"You're going to miss it," Doctor Salem told me.
 
"SAY WHAT?" My voice echoed throughout Eternity!
 
"Oh goddess, my head," She touched the side of her brow, "Was that necessary?"
 
"Yes," I said, "A bit." I would feel apologetic, but… "You're benching me? On a sea mission? I'm Eel! I'm the Fish Guy! You don't gather a group to battle space aliens without a Space Guy! You don't ready for Temporal invaders without a Time Guy! You don't fight Nazis without a Flag Guy! I'm the Fish Guy, I'm tailor made for this mission."
 
"First, there are other Fish Guys out there, and gals," She said, "Not many, but a few. Some of them are even Atlantean if rumor be true, or at least part Atlantean…."
 
I winced, remembering everyone's surprise that I was mostly Scotts-Irish Anglo combo.
 
"Seccond," She continued, "There are armor guys…and gals, who are prepping their gear for deep water stuff thanks to having the time to prep and prepare. Some already had suits just for that already…. Torpedo for example?"
 
"he's still alive?" I blinked, "He's old." A bit petty.
 
"Don't let my renewed features in here fool you, young man," She reminded, "I get senior discounts myself, remember?"
"Don't bench me," I muttered.
 
"You'll be benching yourself," Doctor Salem insisted, "The ritual you'll be helping me with will, if I do my job right, keep you alive, but at the very least you're going to be in another coma for a short time. By the time you do wake up, it will be hopefully over, or at the very least in progress hundreds and hundreds of miles away."
"Can't someone else do that?" I insisted.
 
"Do you really want other heroes to break those spears, untested, possibly risking them killing themselves, just so you can plunge into the depths and punch people? So everyone will know," She said coolly, "That the mighty "Fish Guy" saved the world? Is that what matters to you? Is that why you use your powers the way you do?"
 
"No," I said through gritted teeth, "Nobody else can do this?"
 
"We might find out," she replied, "if we took days or even a week to make it so. A week where more spears are made, more of the undersea nations are further enslaved, and marine lives are twisted into abominations that will kill without remorse. With that math in play, do you think we can spare the time?"
"No," I said just as mopey as the first time, "We can't."
 
"Then you promise to do this, and of your own free will," She looked at me.
 
"Yes," I said, probably sounding like a brat, "I promise to break the seven spears and help you with the ritual."
 
Suddenly the Balance seemed brighter for a moment, and I thought I heard a chime.
 
"What was that?" I looked around.
 
"Just the universe witnessing your pledge," She said serenely. "Be back here at one in the morning. Anything else?" She gestured, and a door appeared nearby. Ironically it looked like a plain oakwood door with a brass knob, nothing fancy, rather old fashioned.
"Yes," I replied stomping towards the door, "I hate mystics."
 
"Noted," She said blandly.
 
And I stepped out back into the real world.
 
A world where I would not be part of a heroic armada.
 
I would act like a stupid compass, and then my ass was benched.

Not even insurance companies want(ed) Obamacare repealed
 
The effect of legislative uncertainty on the insurance business which is based entirely on gauging risk

"Your future is hazy. Consult another cookie later."
 
Lucius Alexander
 
"You will meet an old man upon a palindromedary"

"Your future is hazy. Consult another cookie later."
 
Lucius Alexander
 
"You will meet an old man upon a palindromedary"

You could always write a story about mentalist talking trees having a petty quarrel.  That would at least be psi-ent-tiff-fic.

Spearfishing for compliments
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary suggests countering the cursed spears with a ritual employing aromatic herbs and fertility symbols, although such a procedure would be admittedly an egg-spear-a-mint

Spearfishing for compliments
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary suggests countering the cursed spears with a ritual employing aromatic herbs and fertility symbols, although such a procedure would be admittedly an egg-spear-a-mint

"Abductee torn open by gigantic pink blobs from the Unbreathable Beyond and it'll haunt your sleep" - Shipworm press

Ambivalent has the power to make anybody stop caring about whatever they're doing.  He thought about becoming the third member of To Be Decided... but he hasn't made up his mind yet.
 
- - - - - - -
 
Dr. Sara Haley Ravenwood was an archaeologist working on a dig, specifically unearthing a long-buried Egyptian city,  when she found a necklace.  As soon as she touched it, however, a freak sandstorm erupted, and Dr. Ravenwood was seemingly buried along with the rest of the dig site.
 
At least, that's what everybody thought.  The mystic amulet actually turned Dr. Ravenwood into sand.  It took her several weeks to figure out how to bring her scattered particles together and reform into a humanoid form (albeit one made of sand).  Taking the name Sahara (from the first two letters of her first, middle, and last names), she decided to put her new powers to work protecting others.  (She also continues to search for the necklace, expecting that she will need it if she has any hope of returning to normal.

Peter Parrigew always meant to pick a hero name. At some point. In fact wherever he goes people seem to put off doing things. Why keep robbing the bank, the money will still be there tomorrow? Peter never got around to picking a name, but newsmen far away from him did. The Procrastinator. Peter is thinking of complaining about the name. At some point.

The first member of To Be Decided is...
 
Round tuIt, he always meant to join a team of heroes but never you know, got round to it....

Are you sure it wasn't Steve Jack's son? 
 
 
So I take it he left the Dirty Deck (post 360) to join this team? 

A couple from this week's Star Wars Edge of Empire game:
 
Our ship has two GNK "Gonk" Droids as NPCs. The way our GM plays them is that they have a full & complex language when talking to each other, but to everyone else (including my protocol Droid PC) it all sounds like "Gonk gonk." Early on, they took it upon themselves to christen our ship, so it's now known as The Gonk Gonk.
Recently, we picked up a 3rd Gonk...
Mechanic: "So does that mean our ship is now The Gonk Gonk Gonk?"
GM: "The Gonks all look at you weird and mutter among themselves like you just said something wildly inappropriate. After a few minutes, they file into the cockpit and hand the Captain a piece of paper. It looks like an HR Form for a hostile workforce complaint. But it's hard to be sure because all the blanks are filled in with "Gonk gonk gonk gonk gonk!""
Captain: "What did you say to them?!"
Mechanic: "Apparently I have no idea."
 
We also found an...interesting quirk in the EofE rules while trying to repair some hull damage:
GM: "Anyone who has Mechanics can assist. If you don't have Mechanics, you can use Athletics instead."
Player 1: "Wait, how does that work?"
GM: "It means you're using a more brute-force approach, welding plates in place and so forth."
Player 2: "Are you telling me I can literally buy ranks in I Kick It Until It Works? That's...the most Genre thing ever!"
Player 3: "I am so putting XP into that..."

True story. Years ago, shortly after my father-in-law was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and given six months to live, my brother-in-law took him out for Chinese food. My father-in-law opened his fortune cookie...and it was empty.
 
They both laughed for hours. As did the rest of us when they told us, because we all have dark senses of humor and what else are you going to do?

26 APR 1986 - The Chernobyl Disaster
 
Worst nuclear power accident in history.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary notes that the site is still surrounded by a 2,600 km Exclusion Zone and the Ukrainian government says it will be safe to live there again in about 20,000 years.

I finally remembered another good one from last week's fantasy game. The PCs have gotten involved in a power struggle in 11th century Scandinavia, and are sailing towards what they expect to be a major Viking-on-Viking naval battle.
 
Abida: (F) Muslim alchemist
Tyri: (F) Viking warrior woman
Geralt: (M) Irish holy warrior
 
GM: "OK, you've got about 2 days at sea before you reach Jomsburg. Anything you want to do along the way?"
Abida: "I want to talk to the characters with Tactics, try and learn something about naval warfare."
Tyri: "Well, you see..."
Geralt: "I interrupt and start telling them about all of my battle experience. None of which has involved boats or water."
Abida: "Um, we're talking about naval warfare?"
Geralt: "Oh, yeah. I got nothing then. I leave."
Abida: "Dude, I love that you just tried to mansplain naval tactics to the &%@#ing Viking!"